In a liquid crystal display or a plasma display, a thin film such as a polarizing plate film, a protective film and the like is applied to the surface of the display panel, thus an application apparatus dedicated for applying the film is used in manufacturing of liquid crystal displays, for example.
As this kind of film application apparatus, Patent Literature 1 for example suggests an apparatus using an arcuate application head in order to prevent entrapment of air bubbles and deformation inside the film. As shown in FIGS. 26A to 26D, this film application apparatus includes a curved surface in which a surface facing the film (holding surface) is convex, an application head 101 that is configured to be rotatable around a spindle 102, and a panel support 104 on which the panel 103 is placed that is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction.
In this application apparatus, at the time of applying a film 105, firstly air is aspirated from the holding surface of the application head 101 and the film 105 is absorbed so that an adhering surface is positioned outside, as shown in FIG. 26A. After that, as shown in FIGS. 26B to 26D, the application head 101 is rotated along the movement of the panel support 104 (movement of the panel 103), and the film 105 is applied in order from right end of the panel 103.